Of elections and the Internet

was first introduced it was counter-intuitive with voter turnout decreasing by between 1,9 to 2,5 percent.
This, the study says, compares well with reduced voter turnout in congressional elections in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, when television was introduced.
But the study concedes that the reduction in voter turnout, as was the case with television in the United States, was only reflecting the experimentation with, and embracement of new technology by the public. To illustrate the significance of the Internet on political discourse, the study mentions the German Pirate Party, whose main policies are primarily based on online use, supporting retention of civil rights in telephony and on the Internet, and allowing the electronic inspection and monitoring of government operations by any citizen.

Another study by Americans Caroline Tolbertand Ramona Macneal underscores the importance of the internet in the electoral process.
It found that access to online political information enhances voter information on candidates and elections, stimulating increased interest and citizen participation. It reflects on a period similar to what is happening in Zimbabwe right now, where according to recent media surveys traditional newspaper readership is decreasing while online activity sky-rockets.

Zimbabwe’s situation is important in that since 2001, Internet usage has been driven up in high volumes due mainly to easy accessibility and low cost.
Most Zimbabwean urban dwellers owning any cellphone with a colour screen may read all of Zimbabwe’s mainstream newspapers, go to say half a dozen foreign news sites, check emails and use social networking sites all for under a dollar.

It is high time local politicians realise that rallies are not the only effective way to communicate ideas, policies and political developments with their supporters and prospective voters.

The communication model of the past where the media had significant control on what information passes from the politicians to the electorate is now being rivalled by a simple two-way system that gives both sides, the politician and their supporters a direct route for easy and express passage of information.

Social media applications that include blogging, tweeting and ‘Facebooking’ create a direct link between politicians and the electorate, making it much easier for information to flow back and forth.

Here, Zanu-PF is well aware that it lost a lot of voters during the past few elections.
The party may also be aware that its last empowerment drive, the land reform programme was unlikely to hit the same tone with the urban dwellers as much as it did with the rural folk that value agriculture more because it is their primary source of income.

The next stage of empowerment according to the nationalist party is indigenisation.
Yet given the basic information that just about everyone living in the cities has access to the Internet, is it  not a wonder that www.zanupf.org is hardly any source of important information for empowerment or any other issues of public interest?

Zimbabweans are told of billions worth of deals being struck between the government and foreign-owned companies and, in this era of digital revolution, it is not an option but a duty for those tasked with information dissemination to explain to the general public about what these deals mean to them, among other issues.

Calling ‘online rallies’ should be a priority for politicians because internet users are now used to getting information directly from people they never used to hear directly from.
Now, Barcelona fans for example can get direct information from injured star forward Lionel Messi on his progress or road to recovery.

Potential voters will never have all their questions answered by reading the newspapers, listening to the radio or watching the news.
But if politicians, especially during the election period open communication lines to and with the public, everybody wins because the aspiring members of parliament get to hear views and expectations of the people they hope to get votes from and the electorate gets to know the character of the person needing a ticket to become a legislator.

The process of communicating with the public has to be initiated by the politicians and it has to be early so that the prospective candidates assess their approval ratings through random sampling and make adjustments where needed.

But, based on the German study conclusions, smaller and largely unknown parties do not necessarily benefit from Internet-based publicity.
The study says this may be due to the fact that before the internet, people would vote for the small parties as a protest or issuing a political statement against the bigger ones they could view as not representing their interest. The Internet is, however, giving voters more information and protest votes are more a thing of the past. Now is the time to reach out to millions of Zimbabweans on the internet and ensure that if the campaign ends in defeat, it would only be because the electorate does not like you or what you stand for.

Victory on the other hand would be built on a solid platform where there would be openness built around effective communication.